Tennessee Valley Woodworkers

Gum

Gum

Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 7:42 pm

by loyd

My son-in-law has access to some gum boards and wants to use them for an outside bench. Does anyone have any idea of how gum reacts to being left outside? Assuming that it doesn't object to being outside in Tennessee weather, what kind of finish should he use?

Re: Gum

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:20 am

by sid_matheny

If it is black gum it does ok outside if it is all heart wood. It does warp and twist and needs to be stickered and dried good. It was not used much in the old days because it is almost impossible to split because of the interwoven fibers. Any good outside finish should work fine.